Solderless-seam former for can bodies



G. F. BOUCHER SOLDERLESS SEAM FORMEB- FOR CAN BODIES Filed Feb. 27. 1924 2 sheets-sheet '1 Feb. 17. 192s.

ATTbHNEX G. F. BOUCHER- SOLDERLESS SEAM FORMER FOR CAN BODIES feb. 17. 1925.

Filed Feb. 2'7, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @WENN Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

UNI-T `11n `Pnir?ENT oFfFiel-:if N i GEO'RGEF. BO'UCJHER, OF EA'UL, MINNESOTA.

SOLDERLCESS-SEAM FORlvER FOR CAN' BODIES. fl

Applceton filed February 27, 1924. Serial No. 695,4?1.

Tof all whom t may concern Beit known that IQGsonen F. Bocci-inn, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Sti Fauhin the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inV Solderless- SemFo'rmers for Cen Bodies.` oit' which the 'following a specification.

" M ',iuvention relates toltools toi-inchino..

solderlessY,l watertight seamson tin'ware. The mainobject is to lprovide 'a scr-,celled bumpingfh'orn andjtop die` to be` used in press for 'iornliiig and. closing tight the side seem oi can bodies medeotsheet met-el. The double locking seam itself, which is best showirinFiglp) of my drawing, l do not claimto ibe new, but my `invention provides mennsjforw forming and linishing such a. i

seam withthe fewest possible..operations so asto reduce costs.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation oi the so-i'alled bumping torce carried by the. slide `ot a seeming` press.

Fig. 2 Vis front end View of my improved bun'iping horn withits front plate. Qatlsee Fig. rl) omitted anda can body Ain position to :be sea-med on the horn.

Fig. 3 is a. front end View of the bumping` horn with the bumping 'force in pressing position upon the horn.v

Fig. 4i is 'a sideelevation of Figsl and Q with the can body omitted and fragments ot e, pressholding said parts shown partly in section.

Fig. 5 is ainoditication ot Fig showing my improvements applied to bumping horn Aandbumping.'oree adopted for seaming `cans `ot cylindrical (ir-polygonal torni. Fig. G isan edgeyiew oi av can body blank before it is bent as in Fig.V '7.

Fig. `7 shows u con body blank bent into she. e to be ut u on the bumoino' horn. C3

Fig.v .8 is an enlarged .portion ot' Fig. B showing more clearly how the seam is 1formed and pressed.

Figui) is a" sectional: end View of the completed seam.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, l() designates a sheet metal bla-nk to be formed into a four-cornered can bodyT as in Figs. 2, 3 and 7, or a circular or similar shaped body as 10a in Fig. 5 and has its ends or two opposite edges formed into a double-locked seam l1 which is water tight without the use of solder.

-as in` Fig. 7.

ln this special form `oi seam I lirstpro -4 vide a sheet metal blank ot plane torm-` as` in VFig. 6 with two opposite edges curved in tohooks, as 12, by any suit-ableedgnig tool.

l then bend the blenli by suitablctools until the hooks l2' arev engaged into earchl other The body thus 'formed is then placed upon the bumping horn, as. infFig. 2. In said View and in Figs-3 and" 4, thebumping horn consists oit a. horizontal-l ly elongatedl body 13 having a. reduced reur end portion lll secured in the body l5 ot a seeming press in theupper portion 16 ofwhich is n vertically movable slide l?. lnA the latter is secured by i set-screw Vi8 the stem 19 ot' the bumping torce or upper-*die 20. to be presently Yiurther described;

The horn 13 has ai` longitudinal bore 2l` `open 1n one side tor a rib 22 of a pintle 2?) which is 'retained in the bore by' a plate Qd f secured by screws (see Fig. 4). losaid rib 22 is secured en auxilierymember o'i the horn 13.

Said member 13 is thus; tiltable on the pintle and the pert i3 is `given i clearance 2li to allow the member.-

llto tilt inward with its upper port-ion 1 and thus allow the can body to be more A l?) 'and there have `their ends 'formed with inclines 32 which are always in contact with the beveled bottom edge oi ai` vertically movable tiat bar Ell which is remined in the groove 3l by having a4 lateral` rib 35 arranged to stop under a shoulder of a strip 37 rigidly secured by screws SS in the groove.` The strip 34- is `normally held in raised position 'the bevels 324-33; act-untors 30, screws 29, tilting piece 13 and the springs 28.

The upper die 20 has a groove 39 1n which 1s secured by screws 40 a steel bar il having ay side shoulder 4t2 preventing escape oi a tint steel bar 43 having a side shoulder 44e normally resting on the shoulder 4:2 because constantly pressed downward by springs 45 encircling guiding pins 4.6 fixed in the'ber 43 and sliding with their upper portions in the springs and the springs fitting snugly in holes 47 inthe piece 20, or as 1n F10'. 4, the guiding pins 4t may he independent of the Spring pockets 47. The lower edge of' bar 43 has a face 48 so shaped as to fit and press upon the portion 49 of the can body and also form an extension of the curved face 5() of the bar 4l for forming and pressing the seam ll to a finish in a groove 5l in the upper edge of the bar 37. It will be best seen 1n Fig. 8 that said groove 5l is of a special rounded form at 5ln and 511 so as to co-act with the curved faces 48 and 50 in rolling and pressing the hooks l2 in Fig. 2 into the completed double seam l1 in Figs. 3, 8 and 9.

In the operation, when the can body is placed on the horn and the press is started and makes a single stroke, the face 48 first reaches the blank and under pressure of the springs prevents outward bulging of the blank at the part 49 while the seam is being formed and pressed as already stated. Duiing the last part of said pressing of the seam the face 50 presses at the top of the bar 34 and causes it to act on the inclines 32 and thus by means of the sliding plugs 30 spread the member I3 to the position shown in F 8 whereby the can body is given its proper form and size because all slack in the sheet metal adjacent the seam is taken up. As the slide of' the press ascends again the springs 28 cause the member 13 to tilt or close again toward the horn 13, leaving the can body loose for removal from the horn.

The modified form in Fig. 5 although indicating the application of the inventive features to polygonal and cylindrical cans is so near like the other figures that no need is seen of using different reference characters. In Fig. 9 is shown the most preferable form of the seam, namely to have it project about equally beyond each side of the sheet l0 as this makes it easiest to remove from the machine.

IVhat I claim is:

l. In a machine for making a double lock sheet metal seam on can bodies, a bumping horn having a main body member and an auxiliary member hinged thereto, said main member having in its top a longitudinal groove, a steel bar fixed in one side of said groove and having near its bottom edge a lateral recess forming a downwardly facing lshoulder and in its upper edge a groove in which to form and press the seam, a vertically slidable horizontal, at steel bar in the groove close by the fixed bar and riorinally projecting above the horn but having a lateral projection to engage with the shoulder of the fixed bar to limit said slidable bar projecting above the horn; said slidable bar having at its lower edge a lateral incline, a series of slidable plugs insei-ted in transverse horizontal bores in the main horn member and having each of them one end beveled to fit against the incline of' the slidable bar and the other end projecting beyond one side of' the main horn member; the auxiliary horn member being tiltingly pivoted to said side of the main member, springs arranged to hold the auxiliary inember normally closed to the adjacent side of the main member and in contact with the slidable plugs and thereby the upper part of the horn reduced in cross section, an upper die arranged to descend upon the horn and having a curved face adapted to press the sheet metal down upon the vertically slidable bar in the horn and to help form the seam and adjacent part of the can body, and an upwardly yieldable downwardly springpressed bar retained in the upper die and having its downwardly projected portion formed with a laterally curved face adapted to press on the can body near the seam and also to press on the seam to form it in the groove.

2. The structure specified in claim l and adjustable means carried by the auxiliary horn member for pressing on the slidable plugs.

3. The structure specified in claim l, in which the groove in the horn is of' such transverse curvature as to co-aot with the upper die in rolling the seam into a double lock or six-ply seam before pressing it into a heiinetically tight condition by the saine stroke.

4. The structure specified in claim l, in which the groove in the horn is of such transverse curvature as to co-act with the upper die in rolling the seam into a double lock oi' six-ply seam before pressing it into a herinetically tight condition by the saine stroke, and the groove in the horn is of such depth that the finished seam projects about equally beyond the inner and the outer sides of' the can body.

In testimony whereofl I affix my signature.

GEORGE F. BOUCHER. 

